16 March 2013

Black Students Most Affected by Chicago Schools' Closures

Nine out of 10 of the Chicago Public School students potentially impacted by proposed school closings this year have a predominately Black student body, according to an analysis by the Chicago Sun-Times. “Of those 129 schools located mostly on the South and West sides, 117 are majority Black. The proposed closings are a sharp contrast to citywide data, where only 41.7 percent of CPS students are Black.

The proposed closures have outraged parents and neighborhood groups. “It’s a lawsuit waiting to happen,” said Dwayne Truss of the Save Our Neighborhood Schools Coalition based on the city’s West Side.

Chicago has the distinction of being “the most racially segregated city in the country”, according to Census data analyzed by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research ... The city’s school system is also highly segregated—and opposed federal desegregation efforts for decades.